SC - Chopped Liver

[jeffrey stewart heilveil]

Hi all from Anne-Marie...
Marjali says:
> Well, why the mod subs for period non-cooler foods? To be frank, many
> medieval foods are not to the taste of quite a lot of people. Many people
> who are new to events are more than hesitant to try anything their mother
> never made as a child and so on. I find long events hard enough without
> dealing with whiny kids or adults, so I prefer to feed them something to
> shut them up and keep them out of my hair.
> 
With all due respect, I've been feeding my family and friends on period
food now for years and no one has died or whined so much I wanted to kill
them :). The trick for the food weenies is to find things that are
"familiar" and "safe", but not compromise the principals of recreating
medieval history.

How about a list of foods that are easily recognisable by the biggest food
weenie, are readily available/easy to make AND are documentably period?

- --bread
- --cheese (not the orange stuff, but just about anyother kind excpet pepper
jack)
- --nuts, plain, roasted or candied 
- --dried fruit (apricots, apples, etc. Just not pineapple or papaya or
banana chips)
- --apple pie
- --french toast, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, rather than maple syrup
- -macaroni and cheese
- --hard boiled eggs
- --pickled mushrooms (readily available in most delis these days)
- --an herb quiche
- --italian style sausage or plain fennel sausage links, served with dijon
style mustard and bread
- --plain roast beef, lamb or chicken, again, served with mustard and bread
- --fresh peas sauteed witha bit of bacon
- --a plain green salad with an oil and vinegar dressing
- --apple sauce
- --meatloaf (sans the oatmeal...use bread crumbs and flavor with fresh
herbs)
- --stwed mushrooms and leeks in broth
- --french onion soup
- --pea soup
- --beef stew with carrots and turnips
- --foccacia (bread with cheese and fresh herbs baked on top)
well, you get the idea. And this was just off the top of my head! (here's
the Jeopardy question...what medieval recipes do these modern dishes match?
:))

I'm afraid that a lot of people got the wrong idea about medieval food from
it being badly prepared and inadequately researched. Weird does not
neccessarily make it medieval. medieval people didnt use any more spices
than we do (have you read the lable of a bottle of ketsup lately? Or Heinz
57?)

Sure theres' some medieval foods I dont care for, but then theeres a lot of
modern foods Idont care for. That doesnt justify condemming the entire
genre...

I recognise too that some people in the SCA just have no interest in doing
medieval food and are perfectly happy eating modern stuff while they attend
events. Fine for them. Its just a different game than I want to play. Just
admit it, and dont say "but medieval food is yuckie!". And I dont know that
I buy the idea that "lots" of people dont like medieval food...I think
maybe instead that "lots" of people have never had good medieval food, and
instead dont like Fabulous Feasts or poorly done food. Doh! Now I've done
it! :) Poor Madeline Cosman...I am sure she's a very nice lady...

- --AM
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